National Immunization Month is almost upon us (coming in August), and in anticipation, some of us Twitter health fans have decided to use this medium and other social media tricks to support this effort. For those who have not been keeping pace with the progress of this project, part 1 and part 2 are in the archive of this blog. To wrap up what has been happening this month, allow this post to bring everyone p to speed.

Our steadfast volunteer, April Foreman (@DocForeman), has been shaking the trees for leads in the ministry community in Kansas City for contacts who would be willing to spread greater awareness regarding immunization health and vaccine locales among their faithful. Meanwhile, Mike Boivin (@CommPharm), posted his own poignant account of why he knows vaccines don’t cause autism, writing as a parent of a child with autism. Read this very powerful essay here. During the course of several chats, the topic of using temporary tattoos to spread the word on vaccine clinic locations became a popular topic. Mike Smith (@rybolov) offered to create a pdf of our QR code-Google map that features the vaccine locations we researched for Kansas City, MO. He then provided a link to a place that sells temporary tattoo paper here. So, I have ordered the paper and await delivery. I will print out the pdf filled with our QR codes and try to get the tattoo sheets to Heather Paladine (@paladineh) who is attending the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) National Conference this coming week in …wait for it: Kansas City! Nate Osit (@NateOsit) thinks we can track the number of times the URL in the QR code is read by using bit.ly. So, as part of our experiment, I will be tracking the QR URL on bit.ly just to see how many are clicked. This is such a whimsical idea that if this takes root, I can see all manner of applications for health awareness promotion.

Speaking of which, Heather Paladine and Mike Boivin noted that what is most effective in targeting physicians is having ready-made information packets to give to parents and encouraging prenatal order sets with flu shots that physicians can use. Plus, as Mike also noted providing OB/GYNs with the info on why pregnancy vaccines are a good idea is worthwhile. Here’s an article detailing the CDC’s recommendations on vaccines given during pregnancy, particularly H1N1 flu shot for expectant mothers.

Stay tuned as this project continues to gather steam and interest, inoculating the world from harm.